


Making The Right Choice

by Magnonette



Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Category: Moominvalley (Cartoon 2019), Mumintroll | Moomins Series - Tove Jansson, 楽しいムーミン一家 | Moomin (Anime 1990)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, Violence, chose who dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2020-10-02
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:14:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26779447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Magnonette/pseuds/Magnonette
Summary: Moomin wakes up in a strange building with no recollection of how he got there.
Relationships: Mumintrollet | Moomintroll/Snusmumriken | Snufkin, Snorkfröken | The Snorkmaiden/Snusmumriken | Snufkin
Series: Whumptober 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1948144
Kudos: 12





	Making The Right Choice

**Author's Note:**

> Day 2! In The Hands Of The Enemy - “Pick Who Dies” - Collars - Kidnapped
> 
> Here you go!
> 
> Enjoy some good whump!

Moomin was scared, so scared. He’d always thought of people as nice and caring, as he’d always seen in Moomin Valley. He could never have thought that some could be so horrible. He would never have imagined that this could ever happen to them.

He’d been worried about his friends. He hadn’t seen them in a while and it was very unusual for them to not show up without a warning. Of course, at first, he’d thought they were just busy or wanted some time to themselves as it was sometimes the case.

Snufkin, after all, was known to need to get away for a few days to have some alone time, and it happened sometimes that Snorkmaiden wanted to be alone or spend time with Mymble’s Daughter or Little My. 

He had tried to give them their time, but he couldn’t help but worry about them, he had the feeling that something wasn’t right. So, when they didn’t come back after a few days, he immediately decided to go search after them.

He had been so very worried that he hadn’t even noticed when they had started to follow him. He must have been pretty far into the woods back then, when, suddenly, everything went dark.

When he awoke, he was in an old and run down building. He was alone and had his paws tied together. Soon after he woke up, he could hear footsteps approaching and someone came in the room. 

They looked down at him and smiled mischievously. They seemed happy that he was awake and helped him up on his feet. They, then, took him through the corridors of the abandoned facility and led him in front of a room. 

The door of the room had a small window with a flap that could be opened on their side to look in. The man opened it to let Moomin look at what was inside. At the sight in front of him, Moomin’s heart dropped.

Inside the room, tied together, blindfolded and gagged, were Snufkin and Snorkmaiden, back to back. They had a collar around their neck, each one tied to the other, their feet and paws were tied as well, leaving them unmoving. They looked very pale, shaking.

As Moomin looked on in dismay, the man talked to him.

“I’ll give you a choice.” He said coldly. “Pick who dies.”

The words hurt Moomin, it was like being stabbed in the heart. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard. He had to have heard it wrong. He had to.

“We will only let one of them live.” The man continued. “If you don’t want to pick, then you die. It’s as easy as that.” He shrugged, as if it was nothing. “The girl or the boy?”

Moomin couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it. He wanted it all to be a nightmare. He wanted nothing but to wake up in his bed. He wished he would wake up already. How could he do something like that? How was he supposed to choose? Why should he choose one?

“You’d better hurry.” The man urged. “We don’t have all day. And, a little precision, if you don’t pick, we kill all of you.” He added with a cruel smile spreading across his face.

Moomin’s head was empty, so full of thoughts that they all canceled each other, leaving him empty. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t. He simply couldn’t choose. How was he to do such a thing?

“So, who do you pick to die?” The man pushed.

“What if I say me?” Moomin finally mumbled, his chest so tight he thought he would die before anyone did anything to him. 

“You?” The man looked at him in surprise. “So you rather die instead, huh? How interesting.” The man laughed.

Moomin continued to stare at his friends as the man laughed. What would he do if it meant they all died? He would have to pick one of them? But he couldn’t! He couldn’t do it!

“I’ll allow it.” The man cut through his thoughts. “But, be warned, we’ll make it extra painful. If you choose one of them we’ll make sure to make it quick, but if you really want to choose yourself then you’ll have to pay the price.”

“I’ll choose myself.” Moomin confirmed. He couldn’t do that to any of them, he’d prefer giving his life to save them.

“Fine.” The man nodded, gesturing at another man to take him away. “Let’s begin then.”

Moomin wanted to protest, to ask that they prove that they’d free his friends, but he was immediately gagged, effectively silencing him. He was then forced back down the corridor to the room he had woken up into.

He was pushed to his knees in the middle of the room as he was surrounded by the two men. He watched with horror as they took out knives and approached him.

“Don’t be scared.” The man said with a sickening smile. “You chose this end.”

He let the knife run down Moomin’s snout, leaving a thin red line onto his white fur. The other approached as well, readying his own knife before slowly putting it against Moomin’s ear.

He only had the time to begin to cut when a loud noise was heard, making everyone turn around abruptly. The two men didn’t even have time to do anything before the Police Inspector, the Moomin Parents, Little My and Joxter entered the room, violently pushing them to the floor.

MoominMamma quickly free her son, cupping his cheek and checking if he was alright while the Inspector, MoominPappa and Joxter made sure they wouldn’t escape, Little My jumping on each one of them to bite them hard.

“Mamma!” Moomin cried. “Snufkin and Snorkmaiden are here too! They’re in danger!”

Joxter turned at the mention of his son. He nodded to MoominPappa before approaching Moomin. “Where are they?”

Moomin got to his feet and showed the way to MoominMamma and Joxter towards the room he’d seen his friends in. He let Joxter open the door, as he wasn’t sure if there were more of them around.

Thankfully it seemed that there were only the two men back there. As they entered the room, they gasped at the sight of Snufkin and Snorkmaiden in the center of it. MoominMamma and Joxter hurried to untie them. They took off their blindfolds first, talking to them while they did so, so they wouldn’t panic, then they took off their gags and then undid their bonds.

Snufkin and Snorkmaiden groaned as their eyes met the light of the room, although dim. They looked at them with tired, confused and unseeing eyes. Now that Moomin could see them closer, he could see the marks on them, the bruises, mostly on Snufkin, proof that he’d tried to free himself, unsuccessfully. He couldn’t imagine what they must have been through all the time he’d waited before coming to find them. He felt so guilty for not following his instinct.

They had to carry them out as they’d stayed in the same position for so long they wouldn’t feel their legs anymore. Snufkin, usually the type to protest being carried and to try his best on his own, didn’t even open his mouth, even leaning into his father as the one picked him up carefully.

They took them back home, silent during the long way back. MoominPappa and the inspector had already gone back with the men to take them to jail, as had said Little My who’d waited for them all to go home with them. She didn’t say anything more to them, keeping her gaze on Snufkin and Snorkmaiden.

Once back home, MoominMamma checked them all, making sure to put balm on each bruise and to bandage the worst of them, on the slightly cut wrists and ankles. Then, they helped them to their bed, Snorkmaiden in the room she usually shared with Little My when she stayed at MoominHouse and Snufkin to the guest room bed.

Snorkmaiden asked for Little My to stay with her for a little while, not wanting to be alone quite yet, while Snufkin silently asked the same of his father, clinging to him as he was put into the bed and unwilling to let go quite yet.

Moomin just stared after them, still in shock as well. MoominMamma gently guided him to his room. She hugged him when she noticed his ears dropped and his eyes looking sadly at his bed. She whispered reassurances to him before she guided him to lay in his bed, stroking the fur between his ears until he fell asleep.

The next day, they told the story. Snufkin had been the first, they’d found him while he was enjoying some time alone in the forest and captured him. He’d tried his best to fight his way out, but every time they would beat him up when they would notice it. Then, they took Snorkmaiden, who was just walking alone to go pick up some flowers for MoominMamma. When she’d woken up she was already blindfolded and gag, tied up with Snufkin, she only knew that he was here because they had mentioned him, and she could hear his breathing behind her. He’d then tried to get her free, failing yet again, and this time when he got beat up, and she reacted, asking them to stop, they’d taken to beat her as well, although not as violently for some reason. 

Moomin then explained how they had captured him and how they’d wanted him to pick up one of them to kill. It was hard to say those things, but he continued on. He told them everything, how he couldn’t do it and chose himself, how they accepted and were ready to make him suffer, how he felt so horrible when he realized that he couldn’t be sure that they would keep their word, how guilty he felt for not noticing sooner.

Of course, Snorkmaiden and Snufkin reassured him that it was alright, that they were thankful for him willing to sacrifice himself to save them both instead of choosing one to die, but making it clear that they both would have preferred dying instead of him. They didn’t try to argue more on this matter, knowing already that none of them would want to sacrifice one of the two others.

After that came a long time of healing, mostly for Snufkin, who’d been the most hurt, and for Moomin who was still shocked after what he’d been asked to do. Snorkmaiden proved to be much stronger than they all thought, getting back to her feet and fussing on the other two soon after she’d been freed.

Snufkin had to stay at MoominHouse for a few days to recover, both physically and emotionally. He still wanted his father to stick by his side when he was in the guest room, and would spend the rest of the day with Moomin and Snorkmaiden, always reassuring each other, but mostly them reassuring him, that they were still there, that they weren’t going to give up their lives now.

Little My would scold them a few days later for being so emotional about it, although they knew that she’d been really scared for them and shocked after hearing what had happened. She would also make fun of them, teasing them on how close they were and on how it was so romantic to want to sacrifice yourself instead of the other two.

All in all, everything slowly came back to normal, Snufkin took to going back to his tent, still coming to rest in MoominHouse a few times as he was still a little afraid when alone. Snorkmaiden was already back to her usual self, although much more careful with the boys. Moomin him, keep a good watch on them both, always worrying when he couldn’t find them.

They were all thankful for having each other and their family to support them, to help them through the hard times.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!
> 
> Oof I really wanted them all to suffer, didn't I. Welp, at least they're safe now. Poor Snufkin I always have to make him suffer more than the others whoops. It's not my fault he's so strong and brave and tries to escape or help others escape :3


End file.
